Caleb Birthday

This year Caleb's birthday was a little different. We are usually huge birthday celebration people. As in it is your birthday week. Often, there are balloons or something leading up to the birthday every single day. However, this year we were finishing the basement and then both Shantel and I were sick, plus Lydia got an ear infection. However, we were ready for a big birthday day for Caleb and then the night before his birthday he woke up sick with an ear infection and was so miserable. Shantel spent his birthday taking him to the doctor and getting him medicine. He was miserable all day.

 
Right before bed we did a little cake and let him open one present.

After getting medicine he felt better over the next few days. Then we were able to do a real cake and party that weekend. However, with the coronavirus pandemic, we only had us and then Shantel's parents came and that was it.

Caleb has been loving the "Little Blue Truck", so that was the theme for his birthday. The cake Shantel made turned out amazing. It even had a little "toad."

 

We had little blue pancakes that morning.

 
Then his party. Caleb is such a cute, funny, vibrant little boy and we love him. He brings joy and happiness to our home.

 
One other note: Caleb really wanted sprinkles on his cake, so after we got pictures, we let Caleb cover it in Sprinkles.

 

 
 

Covid 19: The Coronavirus

It is difficult to know where to start with  this post, but I think it is important to talk about this now, while it is happening. Sometimes, it is easy to see read about someone, like Nephi, and say, "Of course, he had faith, look what happened, because we have the advantage of reading or hearing the story after the trial of faith. With that in mind, let's consider this the first of the Corona virus updates. Who knows how many of these we'll need.

I can only think of one time in my life when all journalists (sports, news, politics, comedy), and I mean all, were covering the same thing. That happened on September 11, 2001. It was a tragic day, and it is a day I will never forget.

This is the second time when all eyes have turned to the same thing. However, I truly think this is different, because it is the whole world and it will be going for a while.

I started to take notice of the Coronavirus in mid-January. This is long before most people in the US. Over the next month as it progressed, I realized, that it was coming to the United States and that it would have a significant impact. The Coronavirus is a respiratory illness that can lead to fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Most cases are mild, but severe cases, typically those who are older or high risk health situations can lead to death. By mid-February the US started to see multiple cases and it became a story as US citizens oversees became infected. Cases increased over the next month. By March 8th or 9th, there started to be discussion about potentially playing NBA games without fans. However, it was not until Wednesday March 11 that the virus became something much bigger. That day the NCAA determined that March Madness would be played without fans. The NBA was deciding what to do. Then Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz got sick and was tested for the virus as a precaution. That night the Jazz and Thunder took the floor and were about to tip off when a doctor ran onto the floor and informed them they had to wait for the NBA approval to start the game. That approval never came. Rudy Gobert was diagnosed with Covid-19 and shortly after the NBA season was suspended. When I got that news, that was the moment that this got much bigger.

Over the next two days essentially all sporting events including March Madness were cancelled. School was cancelled for two weeks (not a huge deal for us because we homeschool), church and all church activities were cancelled. Any major event has been cancelled or postponed.

Temples are closed.  We have been encouraged to practice "social distancing" as much as possible. On Friday night we had previously scheduled a date night with some friends and enjoyed going to dinner with them. Garret and Karli are wonderful friends. Who knows when we will be able to go out again. 

I don't think I have had a conversation with anyone in the last week that was not about the Coronavirus. 

In truth, I don't know about bad this will be, but I sense it will be very bad for a long time. I don't think we'll be going to back to school or church for months. Already there are food shortages at the grocery store due to panicking people. Even bigger, the economy is going to slow to a halt. Almost all travel has stopped. Leisure and entertainment has stopped and as those workers lose out on paychecks, the economy will struggle. In truth, we are in the last days and these are the signs of the times. There is worry everywhere. 

For our family, I'm not worried about us getting the Coronavirus, most people younger than 60 with strong systems are not severely impacted. However, I worry for my Mom and Dad, because if they got it, it would be a worst case scenario. We are going to self-quarantine from them to avoid spreading the disease to them. 

With all the doubt and uncertainty, there is certainly stress. However, as we look to Christ and the gospel, we find peace. We have been authorized to prepare and bless the sacrament in our home tomorrow and I am excited to be able to use the priesthood authority to administer that sacred ordinance in our home. Our Prophet was inspired to prepare a home centered, church supported curriculum that will help us continue to provide gospel learning in our home for our children and ourselves. I know that God is there and he loves us. He knows what is happening. He sent a Savior to help heal the wounded heart, because we will face challenges and we will be wounded in this life. As we go through the uncertainty, we will try and rely on Christ. The last three days have been change every day, the situation is constantly changing and I expect more to come. 

Caleb Samuel : 2.75-3

This big three-year-old wins all of the awards for his age group. Every single one.

Stats:
No official stats because Caleb got sick with a pretty killer ear infection on his birthday and I never ended up taking him in for his well-child visit. I need to remember to reschedule it. I'll try to update with stats after his appointment.

Unofficial Stats:
Size 3T clothes, or sometimes 4T if I accidentally put him in Austin's clothes.
The biggest, best, cheesiest grin.


These dates cover - December 11, 2019 through March 10, 2020
Because all of the Christmas pictures were printed with the last book, I stuck a BUNCH of them in here but I just couldn't resist. Christmas at this age is just so special. 

He LOVED making his gingerbread house. He was so proud and worked so hard on it. He also thoroughly enjoyed eating all of the candy off it, and also eating any candy he could get off of the other houses, too. 

He was at a fun stage to really enjoy all of our Christmas traditions. We went to the Outlets to see the giant Christmas tree for our Christmas Kickoff and he LOVED it. And I will never get tired of seeing pictures of him in his red Christmas jammies in front of our tree at home. 

Christmas festivities are hard work. 

On to some other memories: 

-He says so many cute things. Here are some favorites:
-"Workin'" and "Playin" (dropping the g sound at the end and soundin' so darlin' while doin' it.)

-Has started saying "My name is Caleb Samuel." and "I'm two." (Now, "I'm three!")
But the most favorite of all?
He somehow got the notion that he keeps his hugs in his tummy and says all matter of darling things about it.
"I have a hug for you in my tummy!" or "I have some hugs in my tummy" or
Me: "Caleb, can I have a hug?" Him: *looks down to check his stomach* "Yes, there is a mommy hug in my tummy!" *proceeds to give me a giant hug*

Then one day, he came up to David and said "Daddy, I'm hungry in my hug." We about died, it is so perfectly him. 

He's fun and funny and active. He likes to do all the things that the big kids are doing. Also, one of his favorite games is the vacuum game where I try to "get" him with the vacuum while I'm cleaning the floor and he tries to run away. 

He's still sleeping in the same room as Lydia and Austin and for the most part it's working well. I'm going to keep him in that crib as long as I possibly can. 

He loves bathtime. He floats on his tummy and is so proud of himself. He and Austin play together in the bath for over an hour anytime I let them get in the tub. (I also have to cover my floor with towels because even though they try to keep the water IN the tub, it's just hard when you're having so much fun.)

He said his very first prayer all on his own.

"Heavenly Father. Bless Dad's at work - that he will come home. The paint man's are downstairs.... painting our basement. Love each other. Amen."
I died.
(We are working hard on finishing our basement and even though it's taking a long time, it's going to be so nice when it's done. Caleb has been interested in the whole process and he's a great "helper".

He's a great helper in the kitchen, too. He particularly likes helping make the pancakes and I'm pretty happy to let him make his own pancakes at breakfast. He can even flip them over on his own.

He's is super independent and also gets into SO much ... adventure.
 (I refuse to say trouble for the same reason that I will never say that he's being naughty. This stage is meant for exploration and learning and testing boundaries and acquiring new skills and figuring out how things work and how your own body worlds.)
I have sharpie in my fridge, vinegar spilled on the floor, a constant puddle of water on the bathroom floor, and pencil scribbles in my homeschool notebook/planner. His FAVORITE thing is to "do his hair" like Austin does. I can not tell you how many times I have combed this pomade out of his hair and scraped it back into the little tub it comes in. But I'm glad that he's learning and that he's so proud. Portion control will come. Until then, we will laugh (sometimes exasperatedly) when we come across Caleb in the middle of one of his explorations. 

Along with the above explorations, he is constantly lining things up. I often find him as he's pulled out all of the little cars that we have and is in the middle of lining them up end to end across one of the white lines on our family room rug. 

David is such a good Dad. And one of the things that the kids love doing with him is sitting on the couch watching sports together. David sacrifices a LOT to give 100% of his time and attention to his kids. He loves sports and watches most of the games that he really wants to watch after everyone else is asleep (including me). But on the occasional time that he's actually watching sports when the kids are awake, he's sweet to involve them in it. A lot of times it happens one-on-one, and this time Caleb had come inside the house and instead of heading up to bed he sat on the couch and asked to watch the game with Dad. How could we say no? They had a snack, and it was sweet watching them together.

He is funny and friendly. We were at Chik-fil-a and he made a little friend, someone we'd never met before and who was clearly also almost-three. After a while of playing, I told him that it was time to go and when I looked back into the playground - he had disappeared. I thought that he had gone back up into the play area. I was calling for him and asked Lydia to go up to see if he was by the slide. Then I noticed that he was hiding with his little friend under the stair steps. It was darling because they were giggling together and so happy. I really hated to make him leave. I almost tried to find the little girls mom to set up a playdate or something for them but thought that would be a little weird. So instead I took a picture of them in case of the odd chance that they wind up becoming high school sweethearts and getting married and need it for their wedding video. (Because that's not weird, right?) 

He likes ice cream. Also - that's a pile of cream of wheat that he dumped out when he was "exploring".

Oh Caleb, we love you SO much. 

This poor boy had a crummy birthday! He woke up feeling terrible and I ended up taking him to the doctor for an ear infection. We were in the car on the way when he started throwing up because his eardrum had just burst. It was SO sad. We walked around Walmart while we were waiting for his prescription and I let him pick a little cake from the bakery because I decided that we'd wait until he was feeling better for his real cake. He ate a bite, opened one little present, then fell asleep on the couch holding one of his favorite books - Little Blue Truck. 

We are sorry you had such a bummer birthday Caleb - but we love you so much. We are so proud of you, so happy to have you in our family, so grateful to live our lives with you. 

Happy Three Years Old!